Monday, February 22, 2010

Just 'Cause You Can't See Your Cage Doesn't Mean That You Are Free

"The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed."

- Joe Stack (1956-2010)


The above quote is taken from Joseph Stack's suicide letter, posted on the internet shortly before he flew a small Piper Cherokee PA-28-236 into a Texas building that houses IRS offices. Being a tax auditor myself, this news definitely hit home for me and it took me up until now to really wrap my finger around the whole situation. Do I support his actions? Obviously not. Do I support his beliefs? Thats more hit and miss... but do I sympathize with his frustrations?

Wholeheartedly.


I have never been a religious man, but if I were to vest my beliefs and faith in one thing it would be PERFECT capitalism. Please pay attention to the fact that I bolded and upper-cased the word "perfect". The form of capitalism we have in America today is so twisted and perverted that its a whole 'nother animal. We teach our sons and daughters at an early age that they can "be whatever they want to be", but lets not kid ourselves: there are so many financial and economical barriers that many people can't cross. The obvious comes to mind: low income families can't send their kids to an institution of higher learning... without a higher education, these kids will only have enough human capital to be janitors and waitresses. Dig deeper. Homosexuals can't serve in our militaries, even though they are just as able to serve as you and I (hopefully this is repealed soon, but thats another blog post in its own). Dig even deeper, and we can make a connection with Joseph Stack: in our new age of Americana, its becoming more and more impossible for people to operate a small business due to stringent governmental policing and tax enforcement.

A very large portion of small business owners do not have a background in economics, accounting, or taxation. At the same time, a lot of these businesses do not use a CPA or bookkeeper to help them with tax compliance because they cannot afford it. When it is discovered that these businesses fall out of tax compliance, they are literally raped and pillaged with penalties and assessments that can cripple and shut them down. The sad thing is, even if these businesses discover that they were underreporting taxes, "come clean" to the government and are willing to pay the difference, most government entities will still assess and charge penalties. Penalties were designed to curb one's behavior in a socially optimal manner; how does it make sense to penalize someone who understands their errors, is making an attempt to correct them and get back into tax compliance, and will not make the same mistake again? For those of you who are reading this without any background in the complexities of operating a business, it only takes a quick scan of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to show that complying with tax laws isn't an easy task, even if you are an extremely small and simple business. If you are a small business owner, let me make it clear to you: the government does not care about you. At all.

I'm in no way suggesting that we turn a blind eye to small businesses because they do not understand the U.S. tax system. I am suggesting that we become more aware, understanding, and committed to helping small businesses fall in compliance with tax laws and regulations.

Small businesses are great. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses generate 60-80% of new net jobs annually and pay 44.3% of U.S. private-sector payroll. Small businesses help create jobs and keep the money we spend in our local economies. However, I predict that by the time I die and pass on, the small business model that we are accustomed to will be extinct. With the government's stringent tax policies, the advantage of economics of scale for large corporations, and the massive price wars that large corporations like Wal-Mart and Costco can command, you would have to be out of your fucking mind to want to start a small business now.

Politicians are supposedly "taking a stand" on unemployment and are developing policies that will hopefully, one day, spur economic growth. Here's my take: politics and big business should be separate, just like church and state. Cut off our politicians' allowance money from corporate america and lets make DC pure again. Political parties should not be able to accept contributions from businesses, in my humble opinion, as it really does influence their policies. Government should not be focused on penalizing Americans who are trying to operate small businesses, but rather should make the initiative to educate these people on how to properly run their business in compliance with U.S. laws and regulations.

To call America a capitalist nation is far from the truth. We all believe that we have freedom...freedom to say what we want, practice what we believe, and make our own choices...but just because you can't see your cage does not mean that you are free.